Galaxies NGC 3603/3576

Atlas Image mosaic, covering 57.4´ × 48.2´ on the sky, of NGC 3603 (left) and NGC 3576 (right). (The mosaic has been binned to 2´´ pixels.) Both nebulae (referred to together as RCW 57) are among the largest HII (ionized hydrogen) regions in the Galaxy. Both contain large numbers of hot, young, massive stars. Though only about 30´ apart on the sky, NGC 3603 is about twice as far away from us as NGC 3576 (which is at a distance of about 3000 pc, or 9800 light years). 2000 July 19-25